RFA Ethanol Podcast

Fungicides Offer More Than Disease Protection

Carrie Muehling

Late planting across the Midwest in 2019 exposed farmers to a different set of problems than they might have faced otherwise, especially when it comes to disease pressure.

“Late planted corn responds more to a fungicide than early planted corn does,” said Randy Myers, Fungicide Product Development Manager with Bayer. “There are a whole bunch of reasons for that. The plant itself is more vulnerable and also, the soils are usually warmer with that later planting, so with the warmer soils the pathogens are also more active. So there’s more inoculum.”

But as farmers worked to control disease, they may have increased productivity in those fields.

“One of the neat things about fungicides is, if you’ve got the right chemistries, they also trigger physiological reactions in the plant to make them more reactive and less vulnerable to stress,” said Myers.

He said the Climate FieldView platform is helping farmers to pull together the needed information to improve decision making when it comes to using fungicides and other choices. Myers was at the 2019 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Ill.

Listen to Chuck’s interview with Randy here: Interview with Randy Myers, Bayer

Bayer at 2019 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

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